Modeling And Simulation Of A Spot Welding Process - An Overview A.Aravinthan*, K.Sivayoganathan*, D.Al-Dabass**, V.

Balendran* Systems Engineering Research Group *Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering **Department of Computing Nottingham Trent University Burton St, Nottingham 1. Abstract Resistance spot welding is a process that is being widely used in the industry f or sheet joining purposes. This paper describes the modeling and simulation of t he welding process using the finite element modeling technique. A two dimensiona l axisymmetric model will be used to model the thermo-mechanical-electrical coup ling of the process. A mechanical analysis and a thermal-electric analysis will be carried out using the developed model. This paper also includes the benefits of modeling of the welding process towards production performance and cost. 2. Introduction Resistance spot welding is a process of joining two or more metal parts by fusio n at discrete spots at the sheet interface. Resistance to current flow through t he metal sheets generates heat. Temperature rises at the sheet interface till th e plastic point of the metal is reached, the metal will begin to fuse and a nugg et is formed. Current is then switched off and nugget is allowed to cool down sl owly to solidify under pressure. This process is completed within a specified cy cle time. Figure 1 shows the diagram of the welding process. The welding process was invented in 1877 by Professor Elihu Thomson[1] and has been extensively use d since then in the manufacturing industries for joining metal sheets. The two m ain industries that widely use this process are the automobile industries and th e aircraft industries.